


And How Do We Re-Light the Flame When It's Cold?

by HouseElfMagic



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pitch Pearl, but they're separate entities, i wrote this like three years ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 23:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8553094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HouseElfMagic/pseuds/HouseElfMagic
Summary: When a ghost named Phantom ends up joining bodies with a human named Danny Fenton, how can the two possibly make it work?





	

Phantom POV:

Cold. Too cold. Everything's cold now; there is no warmth, no peace. I've nearly forgotten what warmth feels like- I can only get hints of memories of it. I can nearly taste it, but it's still so far. My memory isn't what it used to be. My thoughts are hardly something I can grasp- it's too cold for any rational thought. It's just so cold...

... Is that... Light? It's not cold! I race towards it. Anything to end the cold! But- it hurts! It's so hot! It's burning me- but ANYTHING but the cold! Anything's better than the cold lifelessness here. It hurts so much... Until it doesn't.  
Green eyes open to a new place. It's a room? But-?

Memories of another come flashing into my head. I'm in another's body? But I'm not overshadowing anyone...?

Danny. Danny Fenton, loser, wimp, Fentonia, geek, weak... But not? What the hell?

There are two people here looking at me. Sam Manson and Tucker Foley, the new mind supplies. I run to the mirror.

I look- different. The image is not-quite similar to Danny Fenton, but my eyes are glowing green and my hair's snow white. I feel extra muscle on me and my eye sight has improved-

Wait. My? What? My head kills right now. What's happening to me???

Something's wrong with me- with my powers. An icy chill runs from my waist across my body and the image before my eyes changes with my clothes- seriously, what is this ridiculous outfit? What the hell? I look-

"Danny?! Are you okay?!" Sam asks.

"I- uh..." The door opens to the lab and a large man in an orange jumpsuit and a thin woman in a blue jumpsuit enter while discussing... Fudge?

"- but, Mads! The fudge in the fridge has ectoplasm on it!" I freeze. Did they kill a ghost to get ectoplasm? And why is it on food? A voice answers in my head for me and my headache increases.

'They're incompetent ghost hunters, but competent ghost scientists. They're my parents...' I feel my eyes go wide before I can calm down.

Deep breaths, I tell myself. Wait, breaths? I can breathe?

"What are you three doing down here?" Jack- Father- asks.

"Nothing, Mr. Fenton, I just wanted to see the ghost portal. Congratulations by the way for getting it working-" Sam says. But we know that's not true- Danny- I- went in the portal and cut it on from the inside. And it hurt like hell.

"Yeah, congrats, you two." Tuck tries to say. His lie is see-through at best when his voice wavers, but the two parents are too caught up staring at the now working portal to the ghost zone.

"But- Mads! I told you that us Fentons always get things to work! I say we celebrate with fudge!"

"But, Jack, hun, we don't know the factor that-"

"No time, Mads! Fudge await-" Anymore of his sentence is cut off by the mechanic whir of the closing of the lab door.

"Danny-"

My throat is hoarse even before I attempt any speech, but I try regardless.

"I think- I, uh... I'm gonna go take a nap..." Sam and Tucker obviously don't expect that answer, but I need to get away. I need to be alone and think...

"Sure, dude. We'll, uh, see ya tomorrow, man." I nod at him and Sam and they begin leaving. Sam pauses.

"Not to sound like Jazz, but we're here for you, if you want to talk. You know that right?" I nod and force a smile on my face. They turn and leave through the same door. I glance back one last time at the Fenton Ghost Portal before letting the voice in my head guide me to 'Danny's room. I collapse on the bed- except my ghost powers make me fall through it.

What? I thought that-? I focus on the warmth I feel in this body and tangibility returns to me.

A voice in my head chuckles at me weakly. I climb back into the bed. I think this is going to be a long night.

So... if I'm here where's-?

'Me? Inside you. Creepy, huh?' What the fuck?

"Who are you?" I ask aloud. "Why are you inside me? Why am I here?"

'Stop talking out loud, my parents might think I'm going crazy. I can hear you well enough in our head, so stop giving me a headache. I don't know why you're here. Maybe we fused in the ghost portal? I don't know and I'm too weak right now to do much else.' Even as he speaks, my limbs seem to droop in the bed.

'You're Danny?'

'Got it in one. So, who are you?'

I think for a moment. I don't even remember my human name, so I have the chance to make one. But I don't want to normal human name. Maybe something to do with ghosts? Casper? No, that's the name of the high school. Spook? Yuck. Spector? How about no? Phantom? Huh... That one deserves merit. It's not entirely stupid and Danny deserves some sort of answer.

'Phantom.' I answer simply.

'Well then, Phantom, I think we both deserve some sleep, don't you? Set an alarm- yes, that button there- set it for say, 9:30?- and we'll try to figure this thing out in the morning.'

'Sure, uh, Danny. Man, this is weird.'

'Haha, ya think? Night then, Phantom.'

'Goodnight, Danny.' My eyes slipped shut and, for the first time in what could have been years, I fell asleep.

Beep.  
Beep.  
Beep.  
Beep.

What the fuck is that noise? A hospital monitor?

'An alarm clock, actually.' A groggy voice answered in my head. What the h- oh, yeah.

'Morning, Danny.'

'Morning to you too. So... What the fuck happened yesterday?'

.............

'So you were just floating in the Ghost Zone, moved to the light, were electrocuted, and woke in my body?' Danny asks.

'Yes, and your friend Sam dared you to go into the portal, you got zapped, and were too weak to take control of your body?'

'That about sums it up.'

'Can you take control now?'

'... Do you want me to?'

'If someone comes in, I don't want to make them suspicious...'

'Of what? That a ghost is now in my body somehow? I'm sure that'd be everyone's first guess.'

'Oh, haha. But seriously, I don't have the fine motor control or familiarity that you do yet.' I can almost feel him nod.

'I haven't seen any ghosts in ages since I wandered off in the ghost zone. I just sorta floated... Taking full control and exercising that kind of control is a little... Beyond me at the moment.'

'Good point. I'll try; I don't know if it'll hurt though so...' Something inside me... Shifts? My head feels dizzy, but nothing hurts. I feel myself blink a few times, but I'm not conscious of the action. Suddenly, everything is in focus again.

'What…?' I try to say out loud, but my mouth doesn't move.

'Hello? I think it worked.' As if to prove his point, he wiggles his fingers in front of our- his?- eyes.

'Whoa…" I can't think of anything else to say to describe the weird feeling of not having control of the body I'm in. What does this mean?

'So… do we like take turns or something? I'd feel bad not letting you have any control whatsoever.' Danny says.

'I don't know… Can we like… separate or something?' I ask.

'Wanna try?' I focus on going intangible and separating. I can get most of the way out before exhaustion creeps up on my and I'm forced to give up.

'Okay… plan B, don't do that unless you're not really tired anymore.' Danny says. My head spins as I try to respond.

'That… might not have been the best idea. And you're right. So what does that mean for us? Are we permanently stuck or just until I have enough energy to separate?'

'I don't know anymore than you do. My parents, or at least my mother, may have scientific prowess, but I'm no scientist- especially on ghosts. I know far less than you do.'

'Well, for one thing, we can go intangible which is why I- uh, we?- fell through the bed last night.'

'I think it'd be easier to view each other as separate people since we each have our own consciences. Never before have I felt more like I have multiple personality disorder or something than now. Jazz would have a field day.'

'Your sister?'

'Yeah, she's probably already awake and doing any homework she didn't finish last night. I guess it's a good thing I got mine done in PE yesterday since Mrs. Tetslaff was sick. I still can't believe she's married.'

'Haha. Well, at least your homework's done.'

'Which means more time for you to show me your ghost powers- or at least tell me about them.' Danny says.

'Um…'

'Oh, come on, I'm obviously not my parents or I'd be screaming "GHOST!" and claiming you were evil and brainless.'

'I take offense to that, but you're right. Okay, explain or demonstrate? I think my power's are sorta out of wack or-' Danny's hand turns momentarily invisible and I sigh.

'Example A, but I can try to show you, if your parents don't pick up on the powers.' I finish.

'Nah, they're tech isn't that great yet since they don't have much of a way to test anything on real ghosts. The only ones around here tend to be blobs.'

'Good point. Okay, ready for me to take over? I promise to give you control afterwards.'

'It's okay, I trust you. Go ahead.' The same momentary dizziness takes hold, but it's less powerful, and I feel motor control return to me.

'Power Number 1: intangibility.' I stick my hand through the bed and I feel Danny laughing in amazement in my head.

'Power Number 2: invisibility.' I pull my hand back out and make it invisible. I feel Danny gasp and chuckle to myself.

'Power Number 3, and probably my personal favorite, flight.' I focus my energy and lift a few inches off the bed from my criss-cross-applesauce position and flip upside down for dramatic effect. Danny seems to be mentally frozen in shock for a minute before-

'That's fucking awesome!' I smile and flop back down on the bed, my concentration broken.

'It's like getting my ghost powers all over again… I wonder what else I can still do…'

'Go ahead and try.' I nod my head and focus on my breathing. I'd just discovered this power recently and didn't have much of a hold of even the basics, but if I just- there. I breathed out onto a corner of the sheet and it froze over.

'Awesome.' Danny said.

'I also have a ghost-sense due to the ice powers which means I get really cold breath when a ghost is near. I have a ghost ray thing too that basically shoots ectoplasm. But what's awesome about that is that it glows so it can also be used as a light if I want.'

'Show me?'

'I can try.' I concentrated and formed a small ball of ectoplasm in my palm before it fizzled into in-existence.

'I don't have as much control over my ghost powers now as I usually would. I have others, but-'

'I can tell that trying to separate took a lot out of you, so don't try to push yourself too hard, yeah?'

'So... If I have your memories, does that mean-?'

'That I have yours? Yeah. It seems like your afterlife wasn't exactly the most pleasant thing in the world. This is probably gonna sound creepy, but I've listened to Jazz's psychobabble enough to make sense of a lot of phychy-emotional stuff if you want to talk about it or something...?'

'Thanks, but no thanks. In the GZ, there wasn't that much to bother thinking about anyways- at least recently- and I don't remember much from my life.'

'GZ?'

'Ghost Zone.'

'Ah.'

'So... What happens when we finally manage to separate?' I ask nervously.

'I don't know... My parents will probably try to capture you and dissect you. Then again, they also would think you were brainless and would easily fall for any trick they planned out. So you're probably safe on that aspect. I don't want to make you go back to the Ghost Zone though...' I could practically feel his repulsion to the thought as I let him take control of his body again.

'What do you want to do?' Danny asked.

'I... I don't know. I never thought I'd have any other options.'

'I'd say you could stay with me, but- well, ghost hunting parents... Probably not safe.' I mentally smile in gratitude. This is probably the best situation I could have hoped for, ghost hunters aside. Danny- he isn't jumping to conclusions like most would. He's being sensible and kind to me even though his parents taught him I was evil on principle. But maybe he got to be that way because of his parents- they reinforced the belief so much that the opposite happened and Danny somehow connected emotionally or mentally with ghosts? Memories- glimpses of Danny's past flicker in my mind, and I see flashes of scenes. Danny being bullied by Dash, the school's own star football player, and doing nothing, but jumping in to defend his friends or anyone else the jock could pick on; Danny being ruthlessly taunted verbally and physically by the the school's bullies; his own teachers witnessing the abuse and doing nothing; his parents comparing him to his sister or to themselves...

No wonder he likened himself to ghosts- they were seen as less by everyone else who ignored their potential.

'I... I don't know what to say. Thank you...'

'For what?' It wasn't said tauntingly. It was neutral, if a bit curious.

'Everything.' I didn't expand and he didn't ask. It wasn't necessary. Somehow, sharing a body with this living being... We could feel each other's surface emotions and conscious, projected thoughts like speech. Even without words, we could feel the common ground we shared; we could tell that somehow we'd finally found a connection we hadn't known we'd needed form and grow with each moment. We had finally found someone who would /understand/ and that was more than we'd dared to let ourselves hope for.

'I think-' Danny's thought was cut out by a cold wisp of air that flowed from between his lips.

'Was that-?' He asked.

'Ghost sense. Other ghosts must have recognized the potential of your parent's ghost portal and decided to take advantage of that... Or stumbled upon it or a natural portal.'

'What do we do?' A short scream echoes from the neighbor's house and Danny and I steel ourselves.

'Whatever we can.'

'We'll be recognized- well, Danny Fenton will-'

'Not necessarily.' I state as a plan starts to form in my head.

'Remember yesterday? How we looked in the mirror? We looked a bit like me, enough that you aren't recognizable as Danny Fenton unless you are specifically looking for it- and even then, it's hardly noticeable. What if we made that weird cold halo thing appear again and turn us back into the other appearance?'

'That could work, but how?'

'Okay, concentrate on our ice core- yes the cold inside of us and let the feeling take over. Picture the image we saw in the mirror and-'

'And voila.' Danny said. Black fingerless gloves appear on our now milky white skin and Danny's eyes shift over our current- is this one of his parents jumpsuits? Yeah... the outfit is silly.

'Can you take over now? I don't even know much of how to fight- my mother never taught me.'

'I can try, but without the necessary fine motor skills, I don't think I'd be of any help. How about teamwork? You control, I guide.'

'Sounds like a plan.'

'Okay, to turn intangible, focus on your molecules splitting apart-'

'Lovely image there.'

'- and picture being able to go /through/ things. "I think, therefor I am", okay?'

'Okay, I think- whoa!' Danny started falling through the bed and the floor.

'Turn invisible! You're not here! You can't be seen! Imagine it!' I feel the slight staticky shock that accompanies turning invisible and attempt to instruct Danny on how to fly.

'You're a bird- nothing can stop you. The sky's the limit, the stars are within your reach, you-'

'Holy shit... I'm freakin flying! This is so cool!' Another scream echoes from next door, this one definitively male, and I can hear Danny's parents race towards the scene- Jack's footfalls are not exactly silent- and neither is his exuberance.

"Maddie! I bet it's a ghost!"

'Right. Ghost... Let's go.' Danny phased through the wall and flew over the the neighbor's garage where- I groaned. It was one of the ghosts that I'd seen many times in the GZ, but never near this area of the Zone... How did he get here? Or know the portal was here? I hadn't seen anyone for days, not that it's possible to keep track of time in the Ghost Zone.

'It's just the Box Ghost. He's like the least of a threat you'll ever find. He's like a persistent puppy actually.' Danny tries to maintain our invisibility while he unsteadily flies towards the blue ghost in overalls trying to hold five cardboard boxes at once.

"I am the Box Ghost! BEWARE! Fear me and my cardboard capabilities of doom!' Danny's new neighbor, Mr. Work, cowered in the corner while the Box Ghost continued to try to collect as many boxes as he could hold.

'Uh... What now?' Danny asked.

'Um... Grab his leg and turn him invisible too- like an extension of our power through your arm- and just... Throw him in the Fenton Ghost Portal? Though leave him one empty box- it may keep him satisfied for a while.'

'Did this guy work for FedEx or UPS or something when he was alive because this obsession with boxes is a little creepy and I've known the guy for less than five minutes now.' Danny said as he carried out the plan. The Box Ghost yelled at suddenly turning invisible and dropped his boxes. Being nice, Danny grabbed an empty box and turned it invisible too before turning at a loud sound.

"Jack, y-"

"WHERE'S THE GHOST?!" Jack yelled, hefting his large frame under the low-rise roof of the garage. Mr. Work seemed too much in shock to do much more than shrug with large rounded eyes the size of dinner plates, raising his hands in the air as if giving up on his sanity.

"I knew I shouldn't have moved here..." He murmured. Jack turned away, shoulders downcast until Maddie suggested macadamia nut cookies.

'Okaaay...'

Danny flew out of the ceiling of the open-air garage and back to his room.

 

Meanwhile: (3rd Person POV)  
As soon as Danny and his parents left, Mr. Work shook off the disguise and fake shock. Already, he had helped to set up the beginnings of a new linear path from which the best possible future could be spurned. His persona flickered to that of a childish blue ghost with a large gash, a cloak, and a clock stuck in its body. Fond red eyes looked into the space, seeing more in one instant than any other being could ever hope to. Yes, everything was going as it should. He would have to interfere a few more times in the boys early days to get things in order, but already the threads of time were working to align themselves towards a bright and happy future, even if there were some bumps on the road, so to speak. Yes, this is the path that young Phantom and Daniel Fenton must follow if......

 

Phantom's (again) POV:  
'Should we make ourselves visible?'

'Your parents will be here any moment. Release Boxy and I'll talk to him.' The now surprisingly-almost-familiar feeling of switching control washed over me after Danny let go of the Box Ghost. I had control of Danny's body again, but our visibility flickered in that instant. We'd need to work on that.

"Box Ghost... Here; one box IF you promise not to hurt or scare anyone in the human realm, okay?"

"But I am the Box Ghost, ruler of all things cardboard and-"

"Do you want the box or not?" Boxy sighed.

"... Fine." Then Boxy flew back into the portal to play with his new toy and I pressed the button the close the portal again.

'We should get upstair-'

"-ack, honey, you'll get the gho-" I rolled my eyes and I felt Danny mentally do the same while I flew back to Danny's room and let him take control again.

'How long do you think it will be before we can separate fully?'

'Eager to be rid of me are you?' I joked. Danny chuckled, but I could tell something was bothering him.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing, just... If we split, will I see you again? I mean-'

'There will still probably be a lot of worse ghosts coming through to haunt Amity now that your parents have their own portal. Even if it was destroyed, they have thr capability to make another one. Besides, who else would stand up for the little guy besides the two of us?'

'But when we separate, there's practically nothing I could do. I'm just-'

'You have just as much of a hero complex as I do. Trust me, you'll find a way to make a difference.'

A soft knock on the closed door caused our head to whip around.

"Danny?" A female voice questioned. "I made pancakes- your favorite." Jazz said. Danny smiled.

"Thanks, Jazz. I'll be down in a second, just let me change first." Looking down, we were still wearing the black (HAZMAT, Danny told me) suit. Focusing on our ice core, Danny turned back into... Well, Danny. And now we were in Danny's T-Shirt and jeans. His hand threaded the hem of his shirt before warmth filled his cheeks and I could tell he was blushing.

'Uh... Closing eyes now.' Embarrassment swept through Danny and I realized that this might just be a looong day.

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this ages ago, hoping I'd go back to it, but... that hasn't happened. So here's what I've written so far. I might add to it later, but for now, I'm posting it as a oneshot. If someone wants to help me write it or even adopt the story, let me know! :)
> 
> Yes, I imagined this as Pitch Pearl, but it can easily be read as friendship.


End file.
